(coming in late to the "party")
I teach middle school / high school students.
Some take the "pledge to be pure", some are "just normal" kids, and some already have kids of their own. (the pledge just may keep a few in school a bit longer)
Most of my students don't read outside of the classroom. They all are able to discuss current TV programs, movies, actors/actresses, music, and may also be "gamers".
When S. Meyers' book came out it was an instant success among the young girls and a lot of the mothers. (Surprise! A few boys also!)They were suddenly "reading" books AND discussing them. They were forming book discussion groups, texting questions and answers among themselves (and losing the phone when caught in class), and rereading the books.
I really tried to read her books just to see what it was all about but, I just couldn't finish more than the first one. Yes, it was a bit lame but it was not written for my age group. I saw it as written just for the audience that WAS reading them and figured that Meyers hit it just right.
When the movie came out, my students discussed (endlessly) how the movie and book didn't match. (Finally! A point I could bring up about other literary works and the movies made from them that didn't hold true either.) OK, this lasted about the length of their attention spans and they were off about how sexy-looking "Edward" was in the movie, etc.
The point being.... I didn't like the writing but they did and it was something that they WOULD read and discuss. (There has to be a plus in there somewhere, right?
)
Following all the 'hoopla', quite a few students continued to read and branched out into other genres. So, I guess something good came out of it---- not that it stopped three of them becoming pregnant and being transferred to continuation school.
